Boston police seek man in relation to vandalism at Holocaust Memorial

Boston police are asking for the public's assistance in identifying a man wanted in connection with an incident of vandalism at the New England Holocaust Memorial on Union Street.

The vandalism reportedly occurred around 8:50 p.m. on Friday. Police did not release any specific details about the vandalism but said detectives assigned to the Civil Rights Unit are investigating the crime.

Police released three surveillance images of the man they are looking for, showing him wearing a white sleeveless T-shirt and dark pants. He also has a distinctive tattoo on his left arm. He was captured on surveillance video defacing the glass with black ink.

The graffiti has since been cleaned off, but what happened is still dredging up a lot of raw emotions. And this is not the first time something like this has happened.

“I’d really like to know who did this and why they did it,” Lisa Greenberg said. "Honestly it scares me a little. I never thought I would live to see the day where this kind of thing would happen.”

It's meant to be a place of solitude -- one many consider sacred.

“It shows tremendous ignorance in terms of just not understanding what this is and what it means,” said Needham resident Stuart Kliman.

"To choose that space for this sort of graffiti, if that’s what indeed happened, is just a particularly despicable form of hate, and one that leaves a really big impact on the community,” said Peggy Shukur, the Anti-Defamation League vice president, east division.

Shukur says anti-Semitic incidents last year rose about 205% in New England -- breaking records.

More than 600 cases have already been reported this year, and it's on track to be worse.

“We’re on track right now just by sheer number of incidents that have come in, that looks like we’ll likely exceed the total number we had last year,” Shukur said.

Other local Jewish groups are echoing these concerns, especially following the Hamas Oct. 7 attack.

“Of course we’re seeing a wave of increase in incidents over the past few months as Israel’s war, the tension in the Middle East has continued as well," said Melissa Garlick, senior director of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

The memorial is sadly no stranger to vandalism. Last year, a brick was thrown at the glass. In 2017, a rock was also thrown at a pane.

"It’s really all about coming together as a community and speaking up and saying what is unacceptable here in America," Kliman said.

The New England Holocaust Memorial was built in 1995 to pay tribute to the six million killed during the Holocaust and to honor survivors. It is located on Boston’s historic Freedom Trail, near Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market.

According to the ADL, holocaust denial appears to be on the rise.

Anyone with information about Friday's vandalism incident or the man police are looking for is asked to call the Boston Police Department's Civil Rights Unit detectives at 617-343-4527. Anonymous tips can also be called in to the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word "TIP" to 27463.